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The Wife Of Bath In The Canterbury Tales

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As the Wife of Bath is introduced into “The Canterbury Tales”, her prologue and tale serve as two key pieces of information for understanding who this character is, and what her motives are. In the Bath’s tale, we are introduced to a knight that, overcome by lust, rapes a young maiden. King Arthur’s Queen and the other women in the court tell him that he has a year to figure out what women want most in the world. If incorrect, he will be beheaded. After a year of searching for his answer, the Knight had completely given up on the quest, finding too many differing opinions. The knight soon finds an old woman that will tell him the answer in return for pledging himself to her, and soon they are off to King Arthur’s court. When they return, the Knight tells the Queen that women want more than anything to be in …show more content…

One of the first events that are seen in the tale, which seems to coincide with the Wife of Bath’s opinions, is the Knight raping the maiden. The Wife of Bath could have used this event to support her belief that even the noblest man can be corrupted, and there are no truly good men in the world. “This knight now ponders and sighs sorely, too, But finally, he said in this way here: “My lady and my love and wife so dear, I put myself in your wise governing; Choose yourself which one may be most pleasing And most honor to both you and me too. I do not care now which one of the two; What pleases you suffices now for me.”” (1234-1241). This quote near the end of the tale is used by the Wife of Bath to show how the Knight makes the correct move by giving his wife the power of choice; and because of this the hag becomes beautiful and faithful. This choice and its impact is meant to bring the Wife of Bath’s main point, that men should realize and accept how capable women are, and not to treat them so

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